


Lord Bane´s Murder Mysteries - Welcome to New York

by Katy_777



Series: Lord Bane´s Murder Mysteries [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: 1920´s, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Fusion, Alternate Universe - Police, M/M, Private Investigators
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-24 12:22:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15630609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katy_777/pseuds/Katy_777
Summary: With the end of World War I, a new era was born. An era full of glitz and glamour. Life was a seemingly never-ending party. Magnus Bane is a distant relative of the royal family. He has a title, wealth, a penchant for extravagance and he never gets tired of getting himself into trouble. He´d travelled the whole world in order to see and learn new things, only interested in parties, excesses and adventures behind your wildest imagination. At least that´s what most people think. But in reality, Magnus tries to escape his past and the unsolved mysteries surrounding the tragic events of his childhood. As Magnus decides to return home to New York after years of travelling, he doesn´t only find a new adventure in solving mysterious murders as a private investigator, but he also finds new friends and partners in Detective Inspector Alec Lightwood and his police constable Simon Lewis. The more time he spends in New York, the more he finds himself a new home, and with his new home, he forgets about the past that haunted him for so long. But that doesn´t mean that his past has forgotten him as well. Will Magnus be able to solve the greatest murder case of his life, or will he just end as a murder victim himself?





	1. Chapter 1

„Welcome to New York“

Magnus stepped up to the railing of the ship and propped his arms on it, observing the hectic life of the dockworker´s. Seemingly heavy boxes were carried from one corner of the port to another, goods were loaded onto ships for transport abroad, and elsewhere imported goods were brought into one of the many warehouses. The people were running wildly, seemingly always in a hurry, but still shouting and talking and laughing. It was an interesting view, he thought. He´d always had a thing for the lives of the people around him. They were all so different, and they all had their very own way of seeing the world, of living and thinking. Magnus always wanted to learn as much as possible about nearly everything. Not because his uncle always taught him that knowledge meant power, but because he was actually interested in all these different kinds of cultures, lifestyles, humans. He´d travelled many parts of the world over the years, always looking for a new adventure. He´d learned the tango in argentina, climbed the Kilimanjaro (well, at least a part of it…) in Africa, went shopping in Paris and now that he was standing here, in the port of New York, breathing in a terrible pungent mix of seawater, sweat and smoke, he couldn´t help but letting his lips curl up to a little smile. He´d spent weeks on that ship, stuck together with a bunch of elitist bores with no way out except jumping off the deck and swimming the long way to New York by himself. A tempting idea, at least from time to time, and especially when the old Lady Chamberlaine had told him one of her seemingly never-ending story´s about one of her twenty-one Yorkshires (for god´s sake, these were too many dogs for one woman…). He originally wanted to flew over the ocean, but Raphael, his best friend, right hand and partner in crime, was against his brilliant plan, giving him a sermon about dangers, calling the plane – what were the words he used?- a flying death trap? Yeah, he was pretty sure he called it a flying death trap… That was why he had to choose the boring way of travelling. But now that he was finally here, arms propped on the rusted old railing with the flaked off white color and eyes pinned at the scenery in front of him, he couldn´t help the feeling of being close to a new adventure. And why shouldn´t he be? After all, this was New York! And it was in its best times since years. The end of World War I was also the start of a new era, an era full of jazz, glitter and glamour. A seemingly never-ending party and Magnus wanted to be a part of it as well. And maybe, he would finally be able to bring peace. Not only to himself, or his mother. But to her. He wanted her to find peace, and to receive justice.  
“Dios, can you explain to me again what you want here in this god forsaken place?”, Raphael muttered, stepping beside him and watching the port life suspiciously.  
“You don´t like your first impression of New York?”, Magnus asked, more mocking than curious. Of course Raphael didn´t like it, he was an all-time grumpy cat but also one of the most loyal souls he´d ever met.  
“It stinks terrible! I actually prefer being chased by monkeys through the jungle again over this.”, he pointed at the scenery, while Magnus rolled his eyes.  
“You will never stop holding that against me, will you?”  
“We were chased by a horde of monkeys, Magnus! And that only because you´ve actually started a fight with one of these diablos over an avocado. An avocado!”  
Well, he´d really had some interesting experiences over the years. And his expedition through the Peruvian jungle was definitely one of them, even though his “confrontation” with some of the furry jungle dwellers was rather one of the unpleasant kind.  
“I´m pretty sure the second impression will win your heart!”, he cheered, walking down the boardwalk with elated steps. He wanted to finally leave this stupid ship. He couldn´t await putting a foot on american ground.  
As he reached the end of the stairs, he heard a cheering voice breaking through the daily noises of the port. He searched for his origin and immediately spotted a young woman in a nurse uniform running towards him. She fell around his neck, wrapping her arms around him as she kissed him on the cheek.  
Catarina.  
Catarina was an old friend from his childhood. The two of them used to be inseparable when they were still kids. She was one of the kindest and most selfless persons he´d ever met, always there for him when he needed her even though she had a busy job at the hospital. But she always took her time to help him.  
She hooked herself in his arm and ran as elated as he did beside him, giving him a mischievous smile.  
“So, what are you planning to do now?”, she asked curious, a spark in her eyes.  
“Surely bringing us into a lot of trouble”, Raphael interjected, getting a glare from Magnus that didn´t last long as Catarina started laughing, throwing her head back in her neck.  
“I see you two haven´t changed a bit, have you?”, she laughed, “But, seriously, Magnus, any plans?”  
“On every case bringing as much distance between me and my family as possible.”, he answered dryly, but with an obvious roll of his eyes.  
“Well, I fear I have to tell you that this plan already failed.”, she said, making him stop immediately.  
“What do you mean by that?”, he frowned. Raphael stepped beside him, giving her a look full of curiosity.  
“Well”, she said, slightly uncomfortable with her roll of being the bearer of bad news. “Your aunt is in town.”  
Fuck.  
From all the things that could have happened here meeting his family (even one single member of it) was one of the worst scenarios imaginable. Over the years, Magnus had put a lot of effort into his goal of not crossing paths with his family as long as it´s not really (really) necessary and he actually managed to see them only once every year what turned out to be a real blessing for both, his nerves and his soul.  
But he could already tell that with his aunt Lillith in town, this blessing would end. She would pop up on his doorsteps whenever she´s bored or scandalized (which is mostly the case), entering his home without even asking his permission and staying for hours. Hours in which she would criticize his whole lifestyle, annoy his house employees (but most of all Raphael) and empty his (truly numerous) alcohol reserves.  
“Well”, he said with a deep sigh, “it seems that I need a new plan. How do you think about me learning Bengalese? Or I could learn how to play on the piano and-“  
“Don´t you dare to, Magnus!”, Raphael stopped him from expounding his brilliant plans. “Don´t think that I will let you touch a music instrument ever again after your disastrous plan of playing the charango!”  
“Well, I wouldn´t say it was disastrous.”, Magnus muttered, knowing very well that Raphael was right with that.  
“You´re right. It was torture.”  
Before Magnus got the chance to answer to that Catarina took the word, her voice soft and understanding.  
“I think we all know that you´re not here for the parties, or the music, and not even to escape these demons you call family. You can´t bring her back, Magnus.”  
“But I can find her murderer”, he said, all ease and joy gone. Instead, a deadly serious expression covered his face.  
Catarina mustered his features, his clenched jaw, the compressed lips, and the sadness filling his eyes, making their dark brown color seem even darker than usual, nearly black. He was serious about it. And when Magnus Bane was serious about any of his plans (no matter how dangerous or crazy they were), then no one would be able to stop him.  
She sighed. “If anyone would be able to find him, then it´s you.”, she said, giving him a reassuring smile. “But I fear that in order to do so, you´ll have to face your family.”  
She was right.  
Magnus knew that she was right about that.  
He hated it that she was right about that. That he had to face these demons.  
But he would do it, for her.  
“Well, then I guess I should exceptionally be happy about my aunts´ appearance. I just need a reason to meet her without raising her curiosity.”  
“Then it´s a good thing that she invited us for diner tonight.”, Catarina grinned, winking with a way too perfumed party invitation. Magnus recognized his aunts lively elegant handwriting on the paper.  
Under normal circumstances, Magnus would jump on the next train outside the country just to flee from a diner with his family. But now…  
“So you´re coming with me to this diner party tonight?”, Magnus offered with a conspiratorially grin, getting a shocked expression from his friend.  
“Magnus, I love you. And you know that I would follow you to the gates of hell. But I will rather get pecked to death by a flock of hummingbirds before I join this diner. I´ve happily got a night shift at the hospital tonight.”  
“So you´re leaving me alone with the queen of hell?!”  
“Not alone”, she said encouragingly, “you still have Raphael.”  
“I´m really starting to miss these monkeys…”, Raphael looked like he would be the one who wanted to jump into the water and swim away this time.  
This already seemed like a perfect start into his New York adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was already setting down as Magnus and Raphael made their way to his aunt´s estate. Since the car that Magnus had ordered would first arrive here in a week, they had to resort to the use of an old rickety Taxi today. The ride was rather uncomfortable. The tires didn´t had enough air and Magnus had the strong assumption that something was wrong with the car´s engine. But he didn´t pay much attention to it, instead, he looked out of the window. The setting sun colored the sky in bright red and yellow tones, making it look as if the whole sky was going up in flames.  
A beautiful view.  
A view that didn´t fit into this unpleasant evening at all.  
Magnus wasn´t sure what to expect from a diner party at his aunts´ place, but he feared that he was way too sober for whatever was awaiting him there.  
Because nothing good ever came from his family. It was one of the many reasons why Magnus had avoided them for so long.   
The taxi creaked and groaned as it came to a halt in front of the old mansion that Magnus sadly only knew too well.   
It was one of those houses that represented its owner´s social status and wealth about all dimensions. It had three floors (and god knows how many rooms) and a huge front garden with well-kept rose bushes and lilies. The terrain itself was enclosed by a heavy black iron fence with a huge entrance gate that lead to the far too long driveway on which some police cars were parked.  
Magnus frowned.   
It usually never meant anything good when the police came to visit his family. Magnus paid the two drivers of the taxi and got out, unable to take his eyes off the black police cars. He felt as if he had seen it all before. His aunt´s house at dusk that threw long dark shadows over the surrounding area. The way it looked like a monster with its dark colors and the uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding it. The police cars parked all over the driveway. Magnus swallowed. It was like back then…  
“What do you think did your aunt this time?”, Raphael´s voice cut through his thoughts.  
“I don´t know”, Magnus answered, still half absent-mindedly.  
“Hey, are you ok?”, Raphael asked, a worried expression on his face. It was a rare view to see his friend as pale as he was right now and Raphael feared that he could pass out every second.  
Magnus snapped out of his trance. “Yeah, I´m fine.”, he lied, “It´s just the taxi ride. I actually wonder”, Magnus said mockingly (half curious and half trying to change the topic), “ that you haven´t complained about the taxi ride yet. It was a rough and wild driving style. Normally you would have already told me by now how unbearable terrible it was.”  
Raphael looked at him with raised eyebrows.  
“Your driving style is worse. This was a heavenly ride compared to every time I had to sit in a car that was driven by you.”  
“I´m not driving that bad”, Magnus pouted.  
“Oh please! You´re driving style is murderous. I´m begging to god every time hoping that I don´t have to die yet.”, Raphael´s voice was serious, but he couldn´t help the grin that was curling up his lips.   
“You love my driving style”, Magnus grinned back.  
“I hate it. But I love you mi amigo. C´mon, hell´s awaiting us.”

As they entered the front door, Magnus noticed his aunts´ new maid, a young girl at the beginning of her twenties. She had pitch-black hair that was braided in a long braid with a red ribbon and brown eyes. But not the same dark brown that he had, hers was brighter, a little greyish. It nearly reminded him of… No! Now was really not the right time to think of her. He had to concentrate on the current situation.   
He went to the maid, giving her his most charming smile.   
“Excuse me, I´m searching for Lady SaintCroix.”  
He noticed the girls reddened eyes. She looked as if she had cried not long ago, and she seemed to be a little unconcentrated. Magnus wondered what had happened here.  
Please, not another tragedy.  
Not another death in this cursed mansion.  
Please.  
“Oh, I´m sorry, sir.”, the girl said, wiping away one last tear before giving him a little smile, trying not to look sad. She failed. “If you are here because of my Lady´s dinner party, then I fear I have to tell you that the party got cancelled. We had a death tonight and the police has some questions.”  
“A death?! Who was it?”, Magnus couldn´t believe that this was really happening. He returns home after all these years just to witness how another poor unfortunate soul loses her life in these walls.  
“I´m not sure if I´m allowed to tell you sir.”  
“Please, I need to know who died. I´m your Lady´s nephew, Magnus Bane.”  
The girls´ eyes widened, her mouth forming a silent `O´. So she knew about him. Of course she did, why shouldn´t she? After all, he´d given his best to live an extravagant and unique life. And he´d gained himself a certain reputation by doing so. Not to mention that he was the only nephew of her employer.   
He wanted to add something as the huge door to the salon flew open and a woman in her thirties in an extravagant bordeaux-red evening dress stepped out. As she saw them, she spread her arms, coming towards them with a huge smile on her lips.  
“My dear nephew!”, she cheered with a voice that was poisonous sweet, making Raphael´s hackles set up.  
“My dear aunt Lilith”, Magnus responded awkwardly as she hugged him. “How are you?”  
“I´m fine, ignoring the given circumstances.”  
“What happened?”, Magnus asked, trying to bring some more distance between him and his aunt, as a strict voice raised his attention.  
“That´s what I intend to find out.”  
Magnus turned his head in its direction. At the entrance to the salon stood a man, arms crossed in front of his chest. He had dark, messy hair, that, Magnus thought, could use some gel and exceptional blue eyes that inspected him and Raphael skeptically.   
Somehow the first thing that came Magnus into his mind was beautiful.  
This man was beautiful. And not even his terrible boring grey suit could change something about that fact.  
“And who are you supposed to be?”, the beautiful man asked, raising an eyebrow.  
Magnus wanted to answer something as his aunt fell him into the word.  
“That, detective, is my nephew, the honorable Lord Magnus Bane.”, her voice still poisonous sweet as she turned towards him. “Magnus, meet detective inspector Lightworm.”  
“With all respect, madam. It´s Lightwood, not worm.”, the man seemed annoyed.  
Magnus could relate to that. He wondered how much time he already hadbto spend talking to his aunt. His aunt Lilith, on the other hand, didn´t seem to care at all.  
“Whatsoever”, she waved off.  
“On every case I need to talk to your maid again. Alone.”, the man, detective inspector Lightwood, said with a finality that wouldn´t allow any argument.  
“As you wish, detective.”, his aunt said, taking him by the wrist. “Come with me to the salon, Magnus. And whoever you are.”, she looked at Raphael as if she hadn´t noticed his presence before.  
Raphael just rolled his eyes, but followed them anyways.

Alec watched them as they went to the other room.  
“Hey, Iz, what´s the deal about that man, this Lord Bane?”, he asked, eyes not taking from the direction in which they´d left.   
“You haven´t heard about him?!”, Isabelle looked at him as if he´d just outed himself as a caveman. He looked back at her, eyebrows raised.  
She sighed. “You really need to go under people more often, you know? Talking. Making friends. Having a social life. These kinds of things.”   
“I have friends…”, he muttered.  
“Me and Jace don´t count.”  
“How about-“  
“Max neither.”  
“What´s the deal with this Bane-guy now?”, he tried to change the topic. Subtlety was not really his strength.  
“I still can´t believe that you´ve never hurt about him. He is a distant relative of the royal family. He has traveled half the world. He has experienced incredible adventures, climbed mountains, combed jungles, and he is known for his parties and excesses. He has a title, he has money, he is cultivated and he definitely has style. And he got quite the reputation, one that is very unlikely for a lord.”  
Isabelle sounded as if she would talk about one of these movie stars she´s swarming for. Alec immediately believed her that Magnus Bane loves luxury and excesses. He´d never seen a guy who wore such an amazing amount of jewelry. His signet rings and the rings with the black and blue gemstones and his eye-catching appearance were really something different, even though it suited him somehow. He looked good, more than that, actually, he looked stunningly breathtaking, Alec had to admit. Not that it would matter, because Izzy was wrong about that not being a Lord´s behavior. Actually, that was exactly how these rich people acted. They mostly had too much time and too much money and too much dark secrets. This man´s aunt was the best example for that.

The Salon looked exactly like Magnus remembered it: thick red velvet curtains covered the windows, pompous armchairs were placed around a small dark oak table, and the room was illuminated by a large golden candelabra hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. And in the middle of the room, on one of the armchairs with the golden armrests and the red velvet covers, sat a girl in a sequin dress, her face covered in her hands and the dark strands of her hair fell loosely over her shoulders.   
Magnus didn´t need to see her face to know who she is:  
Dorothea “Dot” Rollins.  
Her father gained wealth and power by importing goods from overseas. After his death a few years ago, her husband Elyas took over the business. Magnus wondered where Elyas was right now. Why wasn´t he by Dot´s side?  
An uneasy feeling spread in his stomach.  
“What happened here, aunt? Who´s dead?”, he asked with lowered voice, nearly whispering.  
“A terrible tragedy, my dear nephew. I fear that our lovely Dorothea is a widow now.”, her voice was full of pity, but Magnus knew better. He could see the spark in her eyes.  
And then it him: Elyas was death. He was young, he wasn´t sick. Why was he dead?  
“What happened?”, he voiced his thoughts.  
“He was tired the whole evening, complaining about a terrible headache and dizziness, and then he just collapsed. We weren´t even there when it happened, but the maid, this poor thing, had to witness it all.”  
Well that didn´t sound normal.  
“I need to talk to her. What´s her name?”  
“Why do you ask me?”  
“Because she´s working for you?”, it was the first time since they entered the house that Raphael said anything, and he sounded annoyed. Again, relatable. 

As Magnus stepped out of the salon, he could see the two talking. But it didn´t look like an official interrogation, more like a personal talk. And why hasn´t he noticed before how similar the two looked?  
Magnus cleared his throat, making the two look up at him.  
“Can I help you?”, the detective inspector asked.  
“Actually”, Magnus stepped closer, trying to sound as charming as possible, “I wanted to ask you for a business card. You see, I'm all alone in this big city, defenseless, an easy prey for robbers. And this city is dangerous.”, he lied, trying to sound like a `damsel in distress´. He always had a thing for acting as well as overreacting. And he could tell by the obvious roll of the detective´s eyes that he succeeded with it.   
“Well, I plan to make it safe.”  
“Wonderful. I love men who have a plan.”, Magnus winked and Alec could feel his cheeks blushing.  
He just wanted to give him one of his cards when the front door flew open and Simon Lewis, his police constable stumbled inside, obviously out of breath.  
“A- a fire.”, he panted.


	3. Chapter 3

“Where did Mister police man had to go to so suddenly?”, Raphael asked as he stepped to Magnus and the maid, who were still standing in the entry hall, watching in the direction in which the detective inspector and his constable had left just a few seconds ago.  
“It seems that there was a fire at the docks.”, Magnus answered thoughtful. “Apparently, an old warehouse is on fire. They do not know what was stored there but it is said that there was an explosion, so they suspect oil or gasoline.”  
“My my, what an eventful evening.”, his aunt stepped beside them, seeming rather amused than actually shocked.  
“Speaking of which”, Magnus turned back to the maid, “I need to know what happened, Miss-“  
“Isabelle”, the girl gave him a slight smile, “You can call me Isabelle.”  
“La belle Isabelle”, Magnus smiled “what a lovely name. And so suitable.”  
“I see, you´re as charming as always, nephew”, Lilith commented.  
“To come back to our original conundrum: Where did it happen? What happened?”, Magnus asked, deciding on ignoring his aunt´s interference.  
“In the garden. Mister Rollins felt sick the whole evening, so he went outside to get some fresh air. The Lady wanted me to bring him something against his headache. When I came outside I saw him leaning against the housewall, talking strange stuff.”  
“What kind of stuff?”, Magnus frowned.  
“He said he couldn´t see anything anymore. That everything was blurry, and then he just-“  
“Oh please”, his aunt interfered once more, “That´s not strange. He simply had one drink too much, that´s all. Don´t be so silly, girl.”  
Magnus shot her a glare.  
“You know what, aunt? I think our dear Isabelle should leave for a few days. She is clearly traumatized by what happened.”  
“Oh no, sir, I´m fine, I just-“  
“No argument, you´ll come with me. My house has enough spare rooms. I insist on helping you getting out of here. And my aunt surely only wants the best for your health, as well. Right, my dear aunt?”, Magnus tried to imitate his aunts´ poisonous sweet voice, giving Lilith his best fake smile as he turned to her.  
She smiled back, showing them her white teeth.  
“But of course I do. Sounds like a lovely idea to me.”, her smile was murderous.  
Isabelle, on the other hand, seemed quite relieved that she could leave.

While his aunt's mansion was in a quieter area just outside the city, Magnus's newly-acquired home was in the middle of it. He´d wanted to be as close to New York's hustle and bustle as possible, so he bought himself a house in the heart of Manhattan.   
It actually was unusual for him to own something like a house. That was the first time, to be honest. His parents´ house, the place where he grew up, was no longer a home to him. And for the last few years he had traveled the world, trying to be at home everywhere and nowhere. He had slept in hotels, in castles, and once during a trip to Mount Everest in a snow-covered wooden cabin. But he had never owned a house himself. But it felt good, coming `home´ for the first time in god knows how many years.  
They took the same taxi for their way back with which they had come to his aunts´ mansion in the first place. Even though the second time was still as bad as the first, Magnus had to admit that at least the drivers, two very entertaining Communists, were very sympathetic to him. They discussed capitalism and the exploitation of the workers throughout the whole trip, distracting the poor Isabelle from the shock of the evening.  
Magnus was quite thankful that she´d agreed to come with them. He had the feeling that she wouldn´t tell them the whole truth as long as his aunt Lilith was around.   
He felt like his aunt had something to do with the events of the evening. He wouldn´t even be surprised if he was wright with that, after all, his aunt had many secrets. Like his entire family. And Isabelle had the key to solve one of these secrets, which meant he had to protect her from them.  
“You know”, Isabelle said, “I´m very grateful to you for offering me to leave my Lady´s mansion, but I fear that detective inspector Lightwood will not be amused.”  
“Why´s that?”, Magnus asked amused. “Because I kidnapped his witness? Or because I kidnapped his little sister?”  
She looked at him bewildered, eyes widened. She opened her mouth, then closed it, not quite sure what to say.  
Raphael on the other hand, seemed to have a lot to say to that.  
“Dios, Magnus, I knew there was something about her but the police man´s little sister?! And what do you mean by kidnapping? ¿Por qué siempre haces eso? ¿Cómo puedes estar tan sucio?”  
“H- how do you even know that?”, Izzy frowned, “Your aunt doesn´t even know my name, so there´s no way you can know about my older brother.”  
“Seriously?”, Magnus asked, eyebrows raised, “You and your brother look quite similar. Your height, the cheekbones, the pitchblack hair. And don´t forget the way the two of you had acted around each other. It was way too personel. So I assumed that you two were related. And you´re reaction proofed me right that you´re Isabelle Lightwood, the detective inspector´s little sister. It was actually quite obvious.”  
“Obvious?”, Isabelle seemed impressed.   
“You better get used to it”, Raphael commented dryly, “He´s always like that.”

As the taxi stopped in front of their new home, a small two-story townhouse with balconies and a front garden, the door flew open and a man in a butler uniform came out, looking quite upset.  
“Magnus!”, he said as they came towards them, “You owe me an explanation.”  
Isabelle could hear a faint british accent (very elegant), but the way he talked to his Lord was everything but that.  
“Because of our new guest?”, Magnus blinked, not knowing what exactly was going on right now, “That´s Isabelle. I kidnapped her because she´s an important witnesse in a murder case.”  
“You did what?!”, the butler startled. “No! I meant your carry on-baggage. I´ve wanted to unpack your stuff just to find more than one pistol. And don´t even get me started about the tons of clothing you´ve bought in Paris. And why do you have a charango?”  
“I thought you´ve thrown it away!”, Raphael glared at him.  
“Why are the two of you so angry at me now?”, Magnus laughed, his hands raised in mock surrender. “You know how I am.”  
“Because”, Raphael looked at him warningly, “The last time you´ve played the charango you´ve scared several goats out of our neighbourhood.”  
“Goats?”, Isabelle laughed in disbelief.  
“It was during our time in Peru. Long story. I´ll tell it another time.”, Magnus waved off.  
Isabelle couldn´t believe it. She´d heard about the infamous Lord Magnus Bane, after all, his adventures were New Yorks number one talking point, but she´d always thought that these were exaggerations. The result of the wild imagination of some gossip-loving busybodies.   
But she slowly started to believe that the stories which she´d heard about him were true.   
And where the hell did he found these employees?! She had never experienced such an unprofessional butler before.  
“Are you ok sweetheart?”, Magnus asked worried, seemingly noticing the strange expression on her face.  
“Of course she´s not ok, Magnus.”, the butler answered on her place, “You´ve said she´d just witnessed a murder. And why did you kidnap her?”, he put his hands on his hip, reminding Isabelle of a father who´s upset about his child´s bad behavior.  
“To be fair”, the other guy – Isabelle recalled that his name was Raphael- interfered, “It wasn´t really kidnapping, more of a rescue operation.”  
The butler raised his eyebrows.  
“She´s working for Lilith.”, It was all that Raphael said but it seemed to be enough of an explanation for the butler.  
“Oh you poor thing.”, he looked at her shocked, “No wonder that you look traumatized, you had to work for the queen of hell. C´mon, let´s get you in. I´ll make you a hot cocoa and then you can tell us all.”  
A Lady that was called the queen of hell. A Lord who was a scandalous mystery himself. An employee who always looked as if he wanted to kill you and a butler who didn´t acted like one at all. Izzy really started to wonder what kind of family she was working for.


	4. Chapter 4

The interior of Magnus´ house was just like him: extravagant, luxurious and mysterious. A lot of gold and black and dark heavy oak furniture. His walls were full of souvenirs from his travels: wooden instruments from Africa, oil paintings from France and Venezuelan masks from Spain. He had big armchairs and a sumptuous bar full of the best spirits that you can get for money in these desperate times. It was actually a shame, Magnus thought.  
They lived in the times of prohibition, which meant that the sale, production and transport of alcohol were forbidden in America since 1920. Allegedly, this should reduce crime. Quite ironic, considering that Prohibition had only enriched the criminal fantasy of many desperate alcohol lovers. Homemade alcohol out of the bath tub, speakeasys in backyards and cellars as well as organized smuggling organizations; the crime should be reduced but instead, it was stronger than ever.  
Better don´t ask where Magnus got his alcohol stock from…  
It all started with one of his crazy adventures, one for which Ragnor was still mad at him.  
Isabelle sat in one of said armchairs, one of Catarina´s self-knitted blankets around her shoulders and a warm cup of cocoa in both hands.   
Raphael and Ragnor, the butler, had taken a seat in the two other armchairs while Magnus leaned against a Chinese drawer chest with colorful paintings and jade applications, arms crossed in front of his chest and a questioning look on his face, waiting for Isabelle to tell them the whole story.  
And for some reason (that he really didn´t know. Seriously, he had no idea…), the two taxi drivers had invited themselves into his mansion as well, inspecting his home curiously.  
“So?”, he asked, “Tell us what really happened.”  
Izzy looked up at him. Magnus noticed that she was tensed because her grip around the cup tightened, making her knuckles turn white.   
“As Mister and Misses Rollins arrived at my Lady´s mansion, Mister Rollins behaved strangely. He couldn´t walk in a straight line, had to prop himself up constantly and everywhere, he complained about a bad headache and the bright light. My Lady just said that he would be drunk and that I shouldn´t pay too much attention to it. Misses Rollins just seemed annoyed by her husband´s bad behavior so I thought that my Lady was right and followed her orders. Then I followed him outside where he complained about his eye problems before he collapsed. I called for a doctor but he was already dead. My brother, Alec, was suspicious about his death circumstances. And you also mentioned that he was murdered before, is that true? Was it really murder?”  
“I fear so.”, Magnus said, giving her an encouraging smile.  
“Sounds like he was poisoned, if you ask me.”, Raphael said, “But who poisoned him? And why?”  
“That´s what we need to find out.”, Magnus said thoughtful.  
“Hey, who´s that guy on this photo?”, one of the taxi drivers, a young man with black hair and blue eyes, interrupted them, holding up one of the framed black and white photographs from the sideboard.  
“Why do you care?”, Raphael asked annoyed, “I don´t even know what you´re doing here.”  
“We want to know how this story ends.”, the man shrugged. “so, who´s that?”  
Magnus took the photo, frowning.  
“That´s the murder victim, Elyas Rollins.”  
“That´s the victim?”, the other asked. Even though he was as young as his partner, he already had grey hair that looked silvery somehow.  
“Why do you ask?”  
“Because we know him.”, the black-haired guy said. “We have driven him to the docks more than one time.”  
“Elyas Rollins? You have driven Elyas Rollins to the docks?”, Magnus frowned.  
“The same docks where a fire broke out shortly after the murder?”, Raphael added, raising one of his eyebrows.  
There was a moment of silence as everyone realized what that meant.  
“I need to go to the docks.”, Magnus said, turning to the two men, “Can you bring me there, – “, he stocked, realizing that he didn´t even knew their names.  
“I´m Will”, the black-haired guy grinned, before pointing over to his partner, “And that´s Jem. And of course we´ll help you, as long as there are no ducks involved in this case.”  
“Ducks?”, Raphael looked at Will as if he was insane.  
“Better don´t ask.”, Jem sighed, shaking his head in disbelief but with a slight smile curling up his lips.  
“Maybe I better come with you”, Raphael offered, still eyeing Will suspiciously.   
“No”, Magnus answered determined. “I need you two to stay here with Isabelle.”  
“Why do you even want to solve this case? My brother is a brilliant Investigator, you know? You should let him handle things. If it´s just because you are bored and need a new adventure then-“  
“I have my reasons.”, Magnus interrupted her, a stony expression on his face. Isabelle wondered what nerve she´d just hit.   
As Magnus and the two drivers left she turned to Ragnor the butler. “What was that?”, she asked careful, but he just shaked his head, swallowing hard. “Elyas Rollins may not be the first dead Magnus´ family is responsible for.”

The fire brazed brightly. The flames leapt high into the sky, illuminating the night. It smelled disgusting, the smoke was thick and heavy, making it hard to breath.  
All units of the New York Fire Department were in a hurry to get the flames under control. So far only with little success. The whole warehouse had to be filled with methylated spirits to cause such an inferno.  
It was one of the worst fires Alec had ever seen. Nevertheless, he couldn´t stop thinking about today´s death. It could have been a heart attack, or a stroke, but Alec felt that it was neither. He had this feeling, that oppressive knot in his stomach that told him it was a crime. That it was murder.  
And then there was this Lady Lilith SaintCroix…   
Alec had been dealing with a lot of gloomy figures in the course of his career, but he couldn´t remember the last time someone chilled him to the bones like she´d done it. The thought of her made him shudder again. He´d never met someone that cold. She´d acted as if she wouldn´t care about her friend´s death at all, more than that, actually: as if she were simply amused by the development of the evening.  
And don´t forget about her nephew, Lord Bane, who, according to Izzy, was quite infamous for his scandalous behavior and his trouble-causing actions of the last years. He seemed to be different than his aunt, less cold, somehow. And yet there was this certain aura surrounding him. Alec had good instincts, so he recognized people with dark secrets when he saw them. Broken souls like this Lord Bane. He wondered what his story was… And what he had to do with all this…  
Alec was just thinking about Lord Bane´s role in this whole chaos when his police constable nudged him in the side.  
“Sir? Isn´t that Lady SaintCroix´ nephew, Lord Magnus Bane?”, he asked, pointing at one of the dark alleys next to the burning warehouse. There knelt a figure on the ground, doing god knows what. Even though it was a shady alley Alec recognized him immediately: His outfit was too flashy as if it could be someone else but Magnus Bane.   
Well, speaking of the devil…  
(It wouldn´t even wonder Alec if Magnus´s aunt was the actual devil.)  
But what was he doing here?  
“You wait here, Lewis.”, he said, making his way to the figure in the alley.  
“What exactly are you doing here?”, he asked, voice firm and intimidating.  
But Lord Bane just looked up at him, giving him a beaming smile before he stood up, not taking his eyes from him.  
“Well, well, hello detective inspector Lightwood. How lovely to see you.”  
“Lord Bane. With all due respect, this is a crime scene. What are you doing here?”  
“You´ve forgotten to give me your business card. I thought we could rectify that now. And by the way, why don´t you just call me Magnus.”, he winked.  
“You don´t actually want me to believe that you came here at the docks, at this nightly hour, to an active crime scene, just to get my business card?”, he asked skeptically.  
“A guy who looks like you would definitely be worth the effort.”, he said, giving him his most charming smile, making him blush.  
“You better leave now, Lord Bane.”, he said, trying to sound firm and not to stutter. Why was this man able to distract him like that?  
“You´re saying this is an active crime scene?”, Magnus asked, deciding to ignore the detective inspector´s orders. It was more fun to continue the conversation. It was so easy to make the detective blush, and so cute when he tried not show it. Besides that it was a necessary measure this time. He had to distract him to make sure that he wouldn´t ask further what he´d done there. He couldn´t know what he´d found. At least for now.  
“So this was not an accidental fire? You´re saying that it happened on purpose? That it was arson?”  
“Lord Bane-“, Alec started, taking in a deep breath for his nerves, but before he could continue Magnus raised his hands in surrender  
“It´s okay detective. I´ll leave it to you know. You should save your words for another time. Maybe during a drink at my place?”  
“Alcohol is forbidden.”  
“Just the sale, production and transport of it. There is no law that says that I´m not allowed to buy or drink it.”  
“But the people you have your alcohol from have sold, produced and transported it. So where did you get it from?”, Alec raised one of his eyebrows questioningly.  
“A man needs his secrets, detective. After all, there is a certain attraction in the mysterious. Just as the forbidden is the most fun.”, with that, he winked at him one last time before turning on his heels and leaving into the darkness of the nightly alleys.  
Alec stood there, staring after him, really wondering what that guy was up to…

As Magnus was sure that he was finally out of sight, he leaned against one of the old stone walls, not caring that his jacket got dirty. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before taking out the object that he´d luckily found in the alley before. It was a handkerchief made of red silk. It was pretty dirty from laying on the alley´s ground but you could clearly recognize that at one corner, initials had been embroidered with black thread: LSC.  
Lilith SaintCroix.  
His aunt had been here.


	5. Chapter 5

Magnus couldn´t tell how long he stood there, leaned against the cold mossy stone wall. The smell of smoke, mixed with the seawater and something that Magnus couldn´t quite put his finger on crawled up his nose. It was disgusting, but his mind was racing, his thoughts almost overturning.  
The death of Elyas, the burning warehouse, his aunts´ handkerchief…  
There was a connection between all these things, but he didn´t know which one.   
Why should his aunt come to the docks? This was no place she would ever visit freely: too dirty, too stinking, too many people that were not `members of the high society´ (he could almost hear her complaining about her social downfall…). She would rather die then ever coming here and still he´d found her handkerchief in that alley. So which reason could she have had to come here after all?   
He knew that she hasn´t been the one to set the fire, after all, he was a part of her alibi. They had all been together in her mansion when the detective inspector had received the message of the fire. Of course it could have just been an accident but the detective seemed to believe that it was arson and somehow Magnus trusted the detective´s instincts. He didn´t know why, but he did. And on the other hand, Magnus had to admit that his aunt´s alibi meant nothing. He knew better then anyone else that his family never made their hands dirty themselves, they had the money to pay for these kinds of things. It was absolutely thinkable that his aunt paid some small criminal to set the warehouse on fire, but then again: what was her handkerchief doing here? And what reason should she have to want this warehouse burned down. Was there a reason at all?  
And how was this connected with the murder of Elyas? He was poisoned, that was for sure. But Magnus didn´t knew when he got poisoned. That would be important to find out. Isabelle meant that he´d already acted weird when he and Dot had arrived at the mansion so it must have happened before. He needed to know what kind of poison had been used. If he knew the poison, then he knew the casting time and then he would find the murderer.   
Magnus let out a heavy breath, eyes still closed. Images shot through his mind, short glimpses of a happier time. He and Tessa playing hide and seek in their uncle´s estate in Camebridge. Tessa who was smiling happily because their parents gave her a cat for her 8th birthday. Tessa and he acting as if they were discoverer in the woods.  
Tessa…  
Magnus pushed the painful memories aside. He bit his lower lip, harder and harder, until he nearly drew blood. Pain was a good distractor. Maybe not a healthy one, but a good one. And Magnus needed this… more than ever. He needed the distraction. He did not want to think about her. Too painful. On every case much more painful than his lip. He knew that this case got close to him, after all, his family was involved in it. It actually seemed like a bad joke to him: he ran away for years without anything happening and the day he returns an old friend dies, a warehouse gets burned down and he has to find out that his aunt was involved in this. He wasn´t even here for 24 hours, for god´s sake…  
He pushed himself off the wall and walked to Will and Jem, who were hardly discussing something next to their car. As they saw him coming closer, Will gave him a conspiratorially grin, “Well, where should it go next, sir?”  
“To the hospital.”  
Jem gave him a worried once over. “Are you hurt?”  
“No.”  
“Then what are you planning to do in the hospital?”  
“Meeting an old friend, breaking into the mortuary, solving this case.”, he said casually as he got into the taxi.  
Will and Jem exchanged a look before they got into the taxi as well, trying to start the engine but the old thing needed some attempts before it finally worked.  
“Remind me of buying you a new car when this is all over.”, Magnus said, half lost in thoughts.

“When you´ve said that you want to go to the mortuary with me, you haven´t mentioned that we were going to break in.”, Catarina hissed, looking down at Magnus who knelt on the bottom, trying to open the door to the mortuary with his lockpicks.   
“The nocturnal hour and the fact that I'm neither working for the hospital nor for the police was not clue enough for you?”, Magnus muttered sarcastically, not looking up from his task at hand.  
He had to push up one last pin, then turn the picklock around and…  
Clack!  
The door to the mortuary flew open and a cold breeze as well as the smell of balming liquid wafted towards them.  
“Still a real magician when it comes to open locks, aren´t you?”, Catarina laughed.   
“What shall I say, I´m quite magical.”, Magnus grinned. “Now c´mon”, he whispered, sneaking inside with his flashlight lightning their way.  
Catarina rolled her eyes but followed him anyways. She couldn´t deny that it had something thrilling to do that, even though she´d thought that they were done breaking into buildings since their little vacation in Monte Carlo two years ago.  
“What are we looking for?”, she asked, trying to lower her voice as much as possible.  
“The coroner's report.“, Magnus answered, picking up a clipboard with notes, “I need to know what poison the murderer has used on Elyas.”  
“But you do know that Elyas is not Tessa, right?”, Catarina said, giving her friend a caring look. Magnus looked up from his clipboard, a sadness filling his eyes.  
“Of course I do. I know that he is not Tessa. But if he got murdered by them, then he is a victim like her.”  
“But this will bring neither of them back.”  
“But it will prevent further deaths.”  
Catarina didn´t know what to say to that. She knew that he was wright, but she hated to see him like that. This case brought back too many bad memories. She could only hope that, when it was over and the murderer convicted, that he could finally find some peace and happiness. She couldn´t think of anyone else who would deserve that more than him. So instead of pushing further she just pointed at the file in his hands, asking: “Did you find something.”  
Magnus looked back down, brows furrowed. “Here stands that it could have been a methanol poisoning…”  
Methanol… but that would mean…  
And then it hit him. Of course, that´s what it was.  
“Magnus, what is it?”, Catarina asked, noticing very well the change in her friend´s mood.  
“Back at the docks, there was this smell. I´ve thought that I would know it from somewhere but I couldn´t tell what it was, or where I´ve smelt it before. But of course, it was the smell of burned alcohol.”  
“You think that it was an alcohol intoxication?”  
“It´s possible, right?”  
Catarina frowned. “I mean, when the alcohol was adulterated then it´s quite possible that during distillation, the poisonous methanol was produced instead of ethanol. That would also explain the symptoms you´ve described: that he seemed drunk, the dizziness, the headache, his blindness… these are all symptoms of an alcohol intoxication.”  
“Now the only questions left are where Elyas got the adulterated alcohol from, who gave it to him, and why.”, Magnus voiced his thoughts.  
“Why don´t you ask your pirate-friend which Ragnor hates so much?”, Catarina asked.  
“He doesn´t hate him. He´s just still mad because of the things that happened while we´d worked for him.”  
“I still can´t believe that you and Ragnor had once been pirates.”, Catarina laughed.  
“To my defense: It was only for one day.”, Magnus joined in her laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

It was early in the morning and the birds chirped cheerfully outside the large windows of Magnus' mansion. It was actually a rather untypical time of day for him. He was used to sleep long because he mostly was out all night (usually because he was on a party). The only times he was already awake before the sunrise were those where he had just returned from a party he´d visited. Yesterday he came back in the middle of the night as well, but couldn´t sleep long. In fact, he hadn´t slept at all. He was haunted by nightmares that kept him awake.  
That´s why now, Magnus sat together with Raphael, Will and Jem in the Salon, discussing what to do next.  
Ragnor had vanished into the kitchen some time ago. He hadn´t been very amused about Magnus´ announcement to visit the pirate Nigel again.  
Well, that was an understatement.  
To be honest, he had thrown his hands in the air and had fussed wildly with them, shaking his head vehemently while proclaiming that he would never become a pirate ever again.  
Magnus thought that his reaction might have been a little over the top, but he respected his friend´s decision anyways.  
He just didn´t understand why he had to hide from them in the kitchen…  
After all, it's not like Magnus would tie him up and gag him and drag him against his will to the port (at least not this time…).  
He was just taking a sip of his coffee when he heard the noise in the entry hall.  
Ragnor's loud protests and the loud insistence of a voice that Magnus identified as Detective Inspector Lightwoods made him smile unexpectedly (why was he smiling? Why did the fact that a policeman entered his home made him so happy? No, not any policeman. The detective inspector. But still, why?)  
The grin that enlightened his face was the only thing that changed about him. Apart from that, he didn´t move at all, just staring at the entry to the salon curiously.  
Magnus could hear footsteps coming closer and then the Salon door flew open and the detective inspector stormed in, looking…  
What the hell?!  
There was ash all over him. It wasn´t a pity about his ugly suit (which was burned at some parts?!), but the ashes were everywhere in his hair as well (his hair was more grey than black by now). And his face was as dirty as that of a coal worker.  
He glared at him angrily while the police constable (Magnus believed that his name was Sherman? Or Shelby?) stood slightly behind him, looking a little worried by his detective inspector´s mood.  
“Detective, how lovely to see you again.”, Magnus cheered brightly, ignoring the evil glares that the detective shot him.  
“You´ve kidnapped my little sister!”, he hissed between clenched teeth.  
“Why don´t you sit down?”, Magnus offered, pointing at the remaining empty armchair, “Have a cup of coffee with us. It´s such a lovely morning. Besides, you look like you could use one.”, he gave him an obvious once over, wondering what had happened after he´d left the crime scene last night.  
“What have you done with my sister?”, he said, not as angry as before. Instead he seemed calm, a scary kind of calm.  
“Sir, I insist that you stop talking to Lord Bane like that.”, Ragnor has entered the salon as well, looking as angry as the detective. It was always weird for Magnus when his friend called him like that. It was way too formally. And so unlike the way he treated him normally. He knew that this was the way a professional butler should talk about his Lord all the time, but to be fair: Ragnor wasn´t even a real butler. And he wasn´t a typical Lord.  
“Maybe he´s right, sir.”, the police constable stepped closer to his detective, adjusting his glasses.  
“No, he´s not! He´s kidnapped my little sister. And I know your reputation!”, he turned to Magnus, “Listen she´s not just a toy and-“  
“My dear detective inspector”; Magnus fell him into the word, “with all due respect, you´re sister may be a living beauty, but I fear that she is not quite my type. You, on the other hand…”, he winked, noticing very well the shocked expression and the blush that creeped up the detective inspector´s cheeks. Magnus liked what he saw.  
The detective inspector just wanted to reply something when they heard a voice from behind them.  
“Alec?!”, they turned around and saw Isabelle, leaning in the doorframe.  
She was wearing a night dress and one of Magnus´ silk dressing gowns. Her long hair fell open over her shoulders and she gave her brother a shocked look, eyes widened and brows raised.  
She seemed to be as wondered about his outer appearance as he was.  
“Izzy, are you ok?”, he gave her a worried once over.  
“Of course, why not?”  
“I was at Lady SaintCroix´ mansion this morning to look after you just to find out that Lord Bane here took you with him. And now you´re living under his roof?! And not only with him, but also with these two troublemakers”, he pointed at Will and Jem. Will raised his eyebrows.  
“You three know each other?”, Magnus asked, looking in the round, but stopped as he saw the expression on Raphael´s face. It was a rare view, seeing his friend looking like that and he had to bite back a grin. He knew exactly what that look meant.  
“We already had the pleasure.”, Alec muttered, “Still fighting against the exploiting bourgeoisie?”, he raised his eyebrow.  
Will gave him a challenging look. “Down with the lousy rulers.”  
“No one has ever won a revolution with a bar fight.”  
“As entertaining as this is”, Magnus said, standing up and turning towards his complicities, “Shall we go?”  
“And where exactly do you want to go?”, the detective inspector, Alec, raised an eyebrow.  
“Just visiting an old friend.”, Magnus waved off. Ragnor snorted at that, making all eyes turning to him.  
“We´re not done here.”, Alec insisted, but Magnus didn´t seem to care about his authority. How could one single person distract you like that?! Seriously, what was wrong with that guy?! He was a possible suspect in a murder case (even though Alec doubted that he´d anything to with that), he sneaked around at his crime scenes, he kidnapped his little sister, and he gave a damn shit about the police and the law he´d sworn to protect.  
God, he hated these rich guys, they were all the same. And this Bane-guy was surely no exception.  
“You can stay here with your little sister a while longer, if you want, detective inspector.”, Magnus offered with a smile, “Ragnor could clean your things. Or he just throws them away and gives you something from my closet. I need to go to a date now. Will, Jem, are you coming?”  
Magnus just wanted to leave when Raphael took his wrist, leaning closer to whisper something in his ear, getting curious looks from all the others.  
“Didn´t you want me to come with you?”  
Magnus gave him a conspiratorially grin, before he whispered back: “I think you better stay. I know that you like what you see. He´s cute, the police constable. You´ve always had good taste.”, he stepped back, wiggling his eyebrows. Raphael seemed startled, clearly not sure what to respond.  
With that, Magnus set off, closely followed by Will and Jem. He stopped in the doorway one last time, turning back to the detective inspector.  
“Why don´t you meet me at the docks? Let´s say in an hour? Then I´ll explain everything to you.”, And with that he was gone. Leaving behind a perplex Alec, a curious Isabelle, a worried Simon, a (still) startled Raphael and an annoyed Ragnor.


	7. Chapter 7

Alec looked after them, wondering what just happened. Then he turned over to his little sister.  
“Can we talk somewhere?”  
“Sure”, she smiled, taking his wrist and pulling him with her in the kitchen.  
The kitchen in Magnus´ mansion was quite small. A simple stove, a small wooden table with chairs and a door leading out in the garden. Not really the extravagant five-star-kitchen that Alec would have expected.  
“Izzy”, he said as he closed the door, making sure no one would eavesdrop on them. “What the hell are you doing here?”  
“I´ve spent the night here. Magnus thought it would be better for me to leave his aunts´ estate for a few days.”, she shrugged.  
“Magnus?”, Alec raised his eyebrows, “You´re already calling him Magnus…”  
“Everyone does, brother.”, she rolled her eyes. “You should hear how his own Butler talks to him when you´re not there.”  
“He´s a philanderer, Iz. You´ve said that yourself. He has quite the reputation-”  
“Ok, hermano”, not good. Izzy always used that phrase when she was angry at him. And an angry Isabelle Lightwood was nothing that you want to witness. “First of all: I´ve never used the word `philanderer´, second: I´m pretty sure that he is more interested in you than in me-“  
“Izzy”, Alec hissed, turning red but she just continued.  
“And thirdly: he only brought me here because he wanted to protect me.”  
“What do you mean `protect you´?”, Alec frowned.  
Izzy sighed. “He thinks that his aunt has something to do with the murder of Elyas Rollins. And since I´m your main witness in this case he´s afraid that she or another member of his family could do me any harm. So he brought me here because he thinks that I´m safer here than I would be if I would still live under the same roof then his aunt.”  
Alec couldn´t believe it.  
“But why hasn´t he told me about that? After all, I´m in charge of that case. Instead, he´s investigating on his own. Why should he investigate against his own family? Are you sure that he isn´t simply trying to disguise the crime?”  
“His butler told me something, you know? He said that his family is responsible for the murder of someone very close to him. And that he´s avoiding them because of that. And that the only reason why he has returned to New York is because he finally wants to convict his family of this crime. He actually hates them. I think that you can trust him with this. I trust him.”  
Alec stared at her open-mouthed.  
He really hadn´t expected something like this…  
“I had no idea…”, he said thoughtful. “But, are you really ok, Iz", he gave her a worried look, but she just laughed.  
“Seriously, Alec?! I´m pretty sure that I should be the one to ask you that.”, she pointed at his burned and dirty suit, making him realize that he still looks like that. Lord Bane, well, Magnus, had hinted at that before as well, but back then Alec had been too outraged to actually realize what he´d meant. But now that he was back to senses he understood how he must look to others and blushed.  
Somehow it appeared to him as the worst of all that Magnus has seen him like that.  
“Do I want to know what happened?”, she laughed, raising her eyebrow questioningly.  
“Not really”, Alec muttered, rubbing his head embarrassed.

As Magnus entered the small bar at the docks, he was welcomed by an unpleasantly cloud of cigar smoke that rose up his nostrils. The Pandemonium was the kind of bar an honest citizen would never set a foot in. Full of petty criminals, wanna-be- gangsters and smugglers. It was only sparsely lit, noisy, stuffy and it smelled disgusting.  
And the moment the door fell shut behind him, all eyes were fixed on him.  
Magnus could already see it: the expression in these men´s eyes. He was wearing an expensive suit, jewels sparkled on his fingers and visually, he stood out even more than normally. For these men, he was just an ordinary rich guy who had entered their territory. An easy prey.  
He immediately regretted that he´d sent Will and Jem away, but they had another task to fulfill. His worries vanished when he saw a scary-looking guy in a long coat and with only six fingers left approaching him. He gave him a bright grin before he hugged him tight but short. As he stepped back again, he gave him a once-over, still grinning.  
“The honorable Lord Magnus Bane, the most scandalous nobleman the seven seas have ever seen.”  
Magnus grinned back. “Six-finger-Nigel, the best pirate the police authorities around the world ever had to deal with.”, before he fastly added: “And the alcohol importer of my trust. How is the smuggling business going, old friend?”, he asked while sitting down towards Nigel at a small table in one of the back corners of the bar.  
“Why do you ask, Magnus? Do you need more?”  
“No. No more alcohol. At least not now. But I need information.”  
Nigel raised a brow. “About what?”  
“About the warehouse that burned down last night. And its connection to a man named Elyas Rollins.”  
“Magnus”, Nigel said in a warning tone, “You know I´m not a traitor.”  
“I know, I know”, Magnus raised his hands placatory, “But Elyas Rollins is dead.”  
That caught Nigel´s attention. “Rollins is dead?”  
“So you knew him?”  
“Indeed. But what have you to do with him?”  
“He´s an old friend of my family, and I fear that-“, Magnus stocked, taking in a deep breath, “I fear that my aunt could have to do anything with his death.”  
“Who is your aunt?”  
“Lilith SaintCroix.”, Magnus said, noticing very well how all the color left Nigel´s face.  
“I knew you´ve said that your family was evil, Magnus, but I´ve never expected you to be related with that Siren.”  
“Siren?”, Magnus asked.  
“She is beautiful and seductive. But just as deadly.”  
Magnus had never heard of a more appropriate description of his aunt then this.  
A Siren.  
Someone who lures men into their death.  
“I know that the warehouse was full of adulterated alcohol. I know that Elyas had drunk something of said alcohol because that´s what killed him in the end. And I know that my aunt has something to do with it because I found this.”, he put the handkerchief between them on the table. There was a look of resignation on his friend´s face.  
Nigel sighed. “Your friend Elyas, he was smuggler. His import company was just a lie and a deception. In fact, he smuggled alcohol from Europe to New York and sold it to the highest bidder.”  
Magnus couldn´t believe it.  
“But if he imported Alcohol from overseas, then why this home-brewed shit?”  
“Have you heard of the shipwreck one month ago?”  
But of course! One moth ago, one of the ships of the Rollins-Import-Company sank off the coast of New York during a bad storm.  
“And this ship has been loaded with Elyas´ smuggled goods?”  
“Exactly.”, Nigel lit himself a cigarette, which meant Magnus had to endure even more disgusting smoke. “His complete delivery got destroyed, but he needed goods for his buyers. So this idiot paid some bunglers to brew him some boxes to bridge the time until the next delivery would arrive. I´ve warned him that this was a stupid idea but he wanted to prove me that this alcohol was as good as the one he always brought over from overseas so he drank it as well.”  
“Are you saying that Elyas has poisoned himself?”, Magnus frowned.  
“I fear so.”  
“Now answer me one last question: What was the role of my aunt in all of this?”


	8. Chapter 8

Alec stood at the docks, looking out at the open sea. If this would be a nice, sunny day, then he would now he be able to see the blue sea, the sunlight would caress his face and he would be able to hear the gulls chattering cheerfully over his head.  
But this wasn´t a sunny day.  
Instead, the sea was gray and stormy, the sky was increasingly covered by large, dark storm clouds and a rough wind made him shudder.  
A storm was coming.  
Not a good sign.  
“My dear detective”, he heard a cheerful voice behind him, “I haven´t expected you to actually come. What a surprise.”  
He turned around to see Magnus Bane coming towards him, a charming smile curling up his lips. He seemed to be the type of guy whose whole face got lightened up when he smiled.  
“I hope a good one.”, he said awkwardly, not quite sure what to respond. Lord Bane, Magnus (when did he start to think of him as Magnus and not Lord Bane anymore?) hasn´t expected him to show up? Did he have so less trust in him (Of course, it´s not like you would have made a very competent and trustworthy appearance this morning…)? But then why inviting him in the first place? He didn´t seem to be upset anyways.  
But why did he care at all about what Magnus would think of him? He was a police man, this was an active case and he was here because he wanted some answers.  
“But of course. It´s always a good thing when I get to see your pretty face.”, he winked at him.  
Fuck, there it was again: the blush that creeped up his cheeks. Why did he always had to do this to him?  
“I´m here because you´ve promised me answers.”, he said, trying to sound unaffected by his flirtatious behavior.  
“I have indeed.”, Magnus said, turning towards the open sea, letting his gaze wandering over it, seemingly lost in thoughts. Alec wondered if he should say something or if he should simply wait for him to start talking on his own.  
“You know that nearly one month ago, one of the ships of Elyas Rollins company has sunk out there?”, he pointed at the horizon.  
“Of course”, Alec said. It had been in all newspapers, he couldn´t think of anyone who hadn´t heard about it.  
“The friend I´ve visited this morning, he´s told me that Elyas Rollins has actually smuggled alcohol from overseas in the States. And the ship that sank back then has been loaded with his special goods,”  
“You´re saying that our murder victim has been a smuggler?”  
“I fear so.”, Magnus said, not taking his eyes from the sea. “The poor Dorothea. Worse enough that she has to mourn the death of her beloved husband, but now she has to deal with that scandal as well.”  
Alec thought that through.  
“The coroner suspects a methanol intoxication. So it was adulterated alcohol that Rollins brought into the country? Or an act of competition? Alcohol smuggling is very lucrative, after all.”  
“It was neither.”, Magnus said, finally taking his eyes from the sea and towards Alec.  
He seemed so serious by now, a darkness in his eyes and his voice calm and somehow sad. It was so unlike his cheerful silly nature with which he has annoyed him these last two days.  
“When his complete delivery got destroyed, Elyas needed goods for his buyers, so he decided to pay some bunglers to brew him some boxes to bridge the time until the next delivery would arrive. He stupidly wanted to prove that this alcohol was as good as the one he always imported so he drank it as well. That´s how he got poisoned.”  
“Do you have any evidences?”, Alec asked. If what Magnus said was true, then this would indeed turn into a huge scandal.  
One of New York´s high society, a smuggler? The press would jump on it. His phone on the station would never be quiet again…  
Oh god…  
“That´s what we´re here for”, a self-confident voice tore him from his thoughts.  
Will and Jem were walking down the port towards them, carrying two heavy looking boxes with the logo of the Rollins Import Company on it.  
As Will saw the detective, he gave him a wide grin.  
“Oh god, not you again…”, Alec rolled his eyed.  
“Oh god, we again.”, Will mocked as he and Jem put the boxes down in front of Alec and Magnus.  
“What´s that?”, Alec asked, eyeing the boxes curiously.  
“Our evidences, detective.”, Magnus cheered, before adding: “Well, at least one part of it. I´m still waiting for news from Raphael and constable Lewis. I´ve called them after my illuminating conversation with my friend, giving them an important task.”  
“Wait!”, Alec stared at him wide eyed, “MY police constable Lewis?!”  
“Do you know another?”, Magnus blinked sheepishly.  
“You´re giving my Constable orders?”  
“Well, it appears so.”, Magnus shrugged, before turning back to the task at hand, “About the boxes-“, he started, taking the crowbar that Jem handed him and opened the boxes wooden cover, revealing its content.  
In the first box were a dozen whiskey bottles, bedded in straw that should guarantee they don´t break during the transport. Magnus took one of the bottles, opened it and held it to his nose, before making a face and handing it over to Alec, clearly disgusted by what he´d smelled.  
“Here”, he said, “That´s definitely home-brewed. And from the lowest of qualities.”  
Alec took a sniff. It was burning in the nose, reminding him more of caustic cleaning supplies than good alcohol.  
So now they had their murder weapon.  
Even though he couldn´t believe that someone was actually stupid enough to drink that. That smell should have been warning enough.  
“Where do you have these from?”, he asked, still feeling a little dizzy from the methanol vapors.  
“I´ve sent them over to the mansion of the family Rollins.”, Magnus declared.  
“These were stored in the study of this Elyas-guy.”, Will said.  
“And the rest of the goods?”, Alec raised his brows.  
“Had been stored in the warehouse that burned down last night.”  
“So it got burned down by someone who wanted to destroy evidences?”, Alec concluded.  
“Probably the same guys who had brewed this disgusting poison.”, Magnus lied, knowing very well who´d done it. “My friend gave me the names of the bunglers. Raphael and constable Lewis are arresting their leader right now.”  
Alec´s jaw dropped.  
This Lord Bane actually did it. He solved the case. In less than 48 hours…  
He couldn´t believe it but he was actually impressed.  
But something was still wrong here… he had the feeling that they´d forgotten something.  
“What about your aunt?”, he said, trying to sound as understanding as possible. This seemed like a sensitive topic at all, even though he knew by now that Magnus hated her.  
Magnus swallowed, fidgeting his rings nervously. Was he maybe covering for her after all?  
“My aunt is indeed involved in this, but not like I´ve thought.”  
“What do you mean?”, Alec frowned  
“She and Elyas Rollins had an affair.”, he confessed.  
Oh.  
OH.  
“B-but your aunt didn´t seem to be affected by his death?”  
“I´ve never said that they´d been in love, detective.”, Magnus sighed. “Maybe Elyas was. But my aunt is heartless. For her, people are nothing more then toys for her amusement. She plays with them, but she would never fall in love with them.”  
Ouch.  
What a statement.  
And that from her own nephew.  
Alec slowly started to understand where Magnus was coming from.  
“I would be very thankful, detective, if we could keep this little detail a secret.”, Magnus looked him in the eyes and Alec felt as if he would see him straight into his soul. “Not for me, or my aunt, but for Dorothea. She´s already a widow, and her husband´s questionable `business ideas´ will already cause her enough troubles. I don´t want her to know about Elyas´ other bad decision as well. It would hurt her too much.”  
He was wright. Alec knew that he was wright. That poor woman would already have to endure enough. He was actually surprised by the way Magnus cared for her and her feelings. Maybe he really was not such a ruthless selfish lawbreaker as all the other wealthy bastards Alec had to deal with here in New York. Maybe he was really different. Maybe he was the exception.  
“Of course we can.”, Alec assured him, getting a slight honest smile in return.  
“Well, thank you, detective.”, he said, instantly feeling bad for what he´d done. For lying at the detective, for withholding the whole truth.


	9. Chapter 9

The popping of the champagne cork made Izzy cheer. They were all sitting at a big table in one of New York's best restaurants as Alec and Simon joined them.  
“Detective, how lovely to see you here.”, Magnus smiled.  
“What exactly are we doing here?”, Alec frowned, still not quite sure why he had received the invitation for this diner tonight.  
“We´re celebrating!”, a woman, who was the only one at this table he hasn´t met before (even Will and Jem were there, as well as his little sister, the grumpy butler and this Spanish guy his constable was talking about all the time). The woman raised her glass, “To the newest business idea of my eldest friend. Cheers.”  
“Business idea?”, Alec frowned, throwing a questioning look in the round.  
“Well”, Magnus said, taking something out of his pocket and handing it over to Alec, “It seems that it´s now my turn to give you my business card.”, he said proudly.  
Alec took the card, reading its artistically written lettering out loud: “Lord Bane, private investigator.”, he dropped his arm with the card, shock and realization covering his face. “Oh no.”  
“Oh yes.”, Magnus grinned.  
“You´ve got to be kidding me.”  
“He´s not.”, the Spanish guy, Raphael, assured him. “You better get used to his crazy way of handling things. You will have to deal with it more often from now on.”  
“I´m not crazy!”, Magnus pouted, causing Raphael, Ragnor and Catarina to burst out into loud laughter, arousing the curiosity and attention of all the other guests in the restaurant, including the waiters.  
“Please”, Ragnor said, wiping away one tear of laughter from his cheek, “Have you forgotten the one time where you got so drunk that you seriously drove into the desert, determined to continue living as a cactus from now on.  
“Of course he has forgotten it, Ragnor.”, Catarina laughed, “After all, he was so drunk that he can´t remember anything from that night. He´d had a total blackout back then, remember.”  
“Oh yes, you´re right”, Ragnor realized.  
The rest of the table as well as Alec and Simon stared at Magnus wide eyed.  
“I hate you”, Magnus pouted.  
“You love us.”, Catarina assured him.  
“Ok, maybe I love you guys.”, he laughed.  
Alec cleared his throat, making Magnus looking at him curiously.  
“Could I talk to you for a second? Alone?”, he asked.  
“Sure.”  


They left the restaurant through the back door, heading out into the small alley where the restaurants trash cans were stored and the employees went for a smoking break. Not the nicest atmosphere for a conversation, but at least they were alone and could talk in peace.  
“I´m sorry.”, Alec blurted out the moment the door closed.  
Magnus blinked confused. “For what?”  
“For putting you in a drawer with all the other rich guys of New York. I´ve heard about your reputation and the rumors about your scandalous adventures and I´ve thought that you would be nothing more than another egoistic spoiled rich kid.”, he took in a deep breath, “But I have to admit that I was wrong. So I´m sorry.”  
“Don´t be.”, Magnus said, swallowing hard, “It´s not like I wouldn´t have lived a scandalous life in the past.”  
`It´s not like I wouldn´t have lied to you out of selfish reasons´, he thought.  
“Still”, Alec said, “It was wrong from me to judge you so hastily, and I´m truly sorry for doing so.”  
“Well, you´re forgiven.”, Magnus smiled, but the words left a bad taste in his mouth. He knew that there was nothing to forgive. That he was the one who should ask for forgiveness instead.  
“What do you say: Shall we join the others again, Magnus?”, Alec offered, getting a shocked look.  
“You´ve called me by my first name.”  
“I hope that´s ok so?”, Alec said, lightly blushed.  
“But of course!”, Magnus beamed, “But only if I can call you by your first name as well.”  
“Sure, it´s Alec.”  
“Alec”, Magnus smiled while pronouncing the name thoughtfully, “Is that short for something?”  
“Actually it´s short for Alexander. But no one calls me that way.”  
“What a shame! But happily for you, I´m not anybody. Let´s go, Alexander.”, he winked.

It was already late in the evening when Magnus arrived at his aunt's estate. And she was already awaiting him.  
As he stepped in, he could hear a gramophone playing Lacrimosa.  
How fitting, he thought.  
His aunt Lilith wore a black lace dress with beadwork, her hair was extravagantly pinned up and she gave him a devious smile as he joined her in the salon.  
“My dear nephew”, she said and Magnus noticed that for once, her voice was not poisonous sweet and obviously fake, but more real. And her real voice, Magnus had to admit, sounded dangerous. Her voice was sharp and together with that devious smile on her lips she reminded him of a wildcat who was about to jump in and kill her prey. Immediately, Magnus had to think of Nigel´s words again. She was a Siren. Someone who lured men into their death.  
“I really would have never expected anything like that from you.”  
“What do you mean?”, Magnus tried to sound indifferent.  
“You know exactly what I mean.”, she stood up and handed him a glass of whiskey that Magnus eyed suspiciously. “Don´t worry. It´s an import from Europe. Not this shit that killed Elyas.”  
“You and Elyas have been partners.”, Magnus said, putting down the glass on the sideboard. “The smuggle of alcohol has originally been your idea. You´ve been a part of this, that´s why you´ve hired some guys to burn down that warehouse, to blur the tracks.”  
“And you´ve lied to the police to cover for me. You´ve protected your family. After all, you´re just like us.”  
“In order to defeat your enemy you have to become like him sometimes.”, Magnus said, getting a questioning look from Lilith who raised her eyebrows.  
“What do you want to say?”  
“I´m saying that I haven´t covered for you because we´re family, but because I want something in return.”  
“And what would this be?”  
“An answer.”  
Lilith gave him a predatory smile, showing him her white teeth. “My, my. My dear Magnus, I´ve already wondered what would bring you back to New York after all these years but of course, I should have known it from the start: that you are here because of Tessa.”  
“Don´t you dare to.”, Magnus hissed, “You have no right to put her name in your mouth.”  
“Why don´t you just stop fooling around like the little kid you´ve been when she died and finally ask your question. This is long overdue.”  
Magnus looked at her, his hands were shaking but his voice was firm (with a threatening tone in it) as he asked:  
“Are you responsible for the murder of my baby sister?”

To be continued…


End file.
